A device known as a "catalytic condenser" is the first to show that substitute materials that are electronically modified to offer new properties can yield quicker, more efficient chemical processing.
As indicated in a Phys.org report, a team of researchers led by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities have developed a device that's electronically converting one metal so that it behaves like another to be used as a catalyst in chemical reactions.
Energy researchers invent chameleon metal that acts like many others https://t.co/z3I87pF7XQ
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This newly invented device has opened the door for new catalytic technologies with the use of non-precious metal catalysts for important applications like strong renewable energy, developing renewable fuels, and manufacturing sustainable materials.
Chemical processing for the last 100 years has depended on the use of specific materials to promote the manufacturing of chemicals and materials used in people's daily lives.
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With the use of various thin-film technologies, the team combined a nanoscale film of alumina made from low-cost abundant aluminum metal with graphene, which they were then able to tune to take on the properties of other materials,
'Precious Metals'
Many of the said materials like precious metals ruthenium, rhodium, platinum, and palladium, have distinctive surface properties.
They can function as both metals and metal oxides, making them crucial for regulating chemical reactions. The study is published in JACS Au, where it was selected as an "Editor's Choice" publication.
In their study, the team is working with the University of Minnesota Office of Technology Commercialization, as well, and has provision patent on the invention.
Possibly, the general public is most familiar with the said concept in connection to the uptick in thefts of catalytic converters on vehicles.
Catalytic Converters
Essentially, catalytic converters are valuable due to the rhodium and palladium inside them. In fact, the latter mentioned can be more expensive compared to gold.
Such expensive materials are frequently in short supply globally and have turned into a major barrier to advancing technology.
In order to develop this approach for tuning the catalytic properties of substitute materials, the study authors depended on their knowledge of how electrons are behaving on surfaces.
The researchers successfully tested a theory that adding and eliminating electrons to one material could convert oxide into something that emulated the properties of another.
Metals and Metal Oxides Combined with Graphenes
According to Paul Dauenhauer, a MacArthur Fellow and professor of chemical engineering and materials science at the University of Minnesota who lead the team, atoms "really do not want to change their number of electrons" at the catalyst's surface.
He added this opens up a totally new opportunity for regulating chemistry and making abundant materials function like precious materials.
The catalytic condenser device is using a combination of nanometer films to both move and stabilize electrons at the surface of the catalyst.
This particular design has a distinctive mechanism of combining metal oxides and metals with graphenes to allow rapid flow of electrons that can be tuned for chemistry.
Versatility Coming from Nanometer Fabrication
With the use of various thin-film technologies, the team combined a nanoscale film of alumina made from low-cost abundant aluminum metal with graphene, which they were then able to tune to "take on the properties of other materials," explained post-doctoral researcher Tzia Ming Onn, from the University of Minnesota who fabricated and tested the said catalytic condensers.
The researcher also said that the substantial ability to tune the catalytic, as well as the electronic properties of the catalyst, went beyond their expectations.
The catalytic condenser design has comprehensive utility as a platform mechanism for an array of manufacturing applications, a similar report from Alpes-Holidays.com specified.
Such versatility is coming from its nanometer fabrication that's incorporating graphene as an enabling component of the active surface layer.
The device's power to stabilize electrons or the absence of electrons also known as "holes" can be tuned with varying compositions of vigorously insulating internal layer.
Moreover, the active layer of the device can incorporate any base catalyst material as well, with added additional additives, that can be tuned to achieve the expensive catalytic materials' properties.
Report about the device's invention is shown on National Philosophy's YouTube video below:
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